More than 400 collaborators convened in New Brunswick, N.J., for the 11th OHDSI Global Symposium, where the community explored how to strengthen trust in science through large-scale, collaborative studies. Plenary talks examined topics including why network studies are essential to evidence generation, and lessons learned from decades of FDA safety review. Researchers also presented new approaches to data standards, analytics, and applications of AI, showcasing the innovation and creativity driving OHDSI’s work.

Beyond the research, the Symposium reaffirmed OHDSI’s collaborative spirit. The “State of the Community” highlighted recent milestones and global leadership, while the Collaborator Showcase allowed teams to share emerging projects that will shape the next phase of OHDSI’s journey. Posters and videos from the event are available at the symposium homepage.

The Symposium also featured a full day of tutorials, including the always-popular Introduction to OHDSI, which welcomed newcomers into the community and provided a foundation for future collaboration. Other tutorials covered methods, tools, and use cases across the research lifecycle. In addition, a day of workgroup activities allowed community members to connect within their areas of expertise, share progress, and plan initiatives that will guide OHDSI’s work in the coming year.

A highlight of every global symposium is the announcement of the Titan Award recipients. Annually, community members are invited to nominate individuals or institutions they feel have made significant contributions towards advancing OHDSI’s mission, vision and values. Once nominations are submitted, the OHDSI Titan Award Committee selects the award winners, who are announced and recognized during the closing of the annual global symposium.

Dr. Andrew S. Kanter is Assistant Professor of Clinical Biomedical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University and directs the Columbia International eHealth Lab (CIEL), focusing on eHealth initiatives in resource-limited settings. He is former Chief Medical Officer and is current strategic advisor at IMOHealth (IMO), where he provides strategic direction on clinical terminology and data standardization.

Dr. Kanter’s work has significantly impacted health data interoperability, particularly in low-resource environments. He led the development of the Millennium Villages Global Network (MVG-Net) for the Millennium Villages Project, an open-source information system that linked clinics across Sub-Saharan Africa. He is the Terminology and Metadata lead for the largest open source EMR project for LMICs OpenMRS, and he works closely with other open source/open science communities such as OHDSI, Open Concept Lab and OpenHIE.

Kanter discusses his career journey, why he believes work with low- and middle-income countries can impact healthcare globally, the importance of standardized vocabularies, and more in the latest collaborator spotlight.